Finding Your Photography Style: Black and White Photographs

When taking pictures, everyone has a preference in regards to what they like. Some people love landscapes, some people love portraits, some people love to shoot on film, some prefer digital. When starting out in photography—just like with painting, drawing, music, or theater—you have to find to niche. A lot of people prefer to shoot weddings, others prefer to shoot families or real estate. Some people really like street photography, while some people focus on fashion. Finding your “style” as a photographer and artist is important, because once you find it, that becomes what you're known for. Van Goh has a very unique, identifiable style. Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange had identifiable styles. Andy Warhol had a very unique identifiable style. As an artist, your style will mold and change and evolve as you study and get better. When I started, I had no idea what I liked or didn't like; I had no idea how to deal with overexposure or shaky pictures.

I'd been into photography for about a year when the work of Angelo Merendino caught my eye. He had begun posting his photos online to a website and blog, which chronicled his late wife Jennifer's fight with breast cancer. His photographs were in black and white, and for the first time, I was emotionally gripped. He showed what, too often, many people are afraid to see: the ugly side of cancer treatments. His photos were raw—and sometimes painful. He photographed her entire journey, including all the good and bad times they shared together. Gradually, he's had other photo series'--including Goodbye At the Door (a series of pictures of his late parents seeing him to the door as he left their house), and Fifty-Two Thank Yous (in which he posted something he was grateful for every week of the year). I wrote to him once, many years ago, and mentioned that his photos inspired me. I mentioned that I'd lost my grandfather to lung cancer a few years prior, and that I knew all too well how cancer could affect families. He wrote back, to my surprise, and he told me to continue taking pictures, and find my own personal style. To this day, he's one of my biggest sources of inspiration. He's also why I love to shoot primarily in black and white.

A lot of people have asked me why I do it; why don't I just shoot in color? After all, the world isn't black and white. However, I've found that's my personal style. Often, when I want people to focus on a particular piece of the image, black and white can take the distractions out so that you can focus on the subject in the picture. Particularly when photographing people, I like to photograph in black and white. You can focus on a person's expression when you take the distraction of color out of the equation.

Some things, I do still prefer to shoot in color, one of them being graffiti art. My friend, Johnny, has a particular space in downtown Florence with a lot of graffiti, and I love to shoot in color when I do. He's got a very specific, colorful style that I absolutely love and want to capture.

A lot of iconic pictures throughout history have been black and white. We often forget that historically, photographing in color is a relatively new thing. The iconic picture of the flag being raised at Iwo Jima was shot in black and white. Depression era pictures shot by Dorothea Lange were shot in black and white. As I've evolved in my style, I've discovered I like crisp, tack-sharp black and white images. It's aesthetically very pleasing to me. It all boils down to personal preference: what do you like? What do you dislike? All of your preferences go into evolving as an artist.

If you are going to experiment with black and white photography, I do have a few tips for producing the best possible images.

1. Don't shoot in black and white initially.

That can take some of the integrity away from the image. Instead, when you open your editing software, turn the image to black and white then. I like to shoot in RAW format (.nef), and adjust the RGB (color) image before I switch to black and white. That allows me to see what it'd look like in color format.

1. If you can, try to use framing and structures to your advantage.

One thing I like to do is find things that would frame my image—a “frameception”, if you will. I really like to have stark contrasts and things that make my image stand out. If you can, look for those features—things that would frame your subject. Doors, fences, light posts, and even trees can be good examples of this.

1. Cloudy days make good pictures

Cloudy days are my favorite days to shoot. I absolutely love that the lighting is never too harsh, and you can get a much sharper or more contrasted image on cloudy days. To me, they make the best black and white images, but also, color is great on cloudy days, too. You spend a lot less time worrying about golden hours when you can just look for cloudy days.

1. Brightness and contrast are your friends

When you make your image black and white, play with your brightness and contrast. They can really make your subject stand out, and can give a really pretty stark view. This is one of my favorite tools to use and I do it every single time I edit a picture, without fail. It's especially good for portraits, because I find I like the effect it gives for the subject's eyes.

1. Find your style of black and white

That's right, even with black and white images, there are different styles. What is your goal? To evoke questions? Emotions? Are you aiming to take the distractions of colors out of the picture? Are you wanting to print the pictures? Find out what your goal is, and you can adjust your photography style accordingly.

I know a lot of people don't like black and white images, but that's okay, because art is suppose to be subjective. Not everyone will like your pictures. What matters is that you like your pictures. As long as you're satisfied with your images, that's what matters at the end of the day. Keep your camera with you, and look for opportunities to experiment! Find every day subjects to photograph, and if you want, tag me in them! Use the hashtag #everydayobjects on instagram, if you can. I'd love to see your pictures!

Here are a few from my photo walk near the river in Florence, Alabama today. It was a bit chilly, but the overcast sky made for beautiful pictures.

-A